5 Effective Ways to Exterminate Bed bugs

Just the mere thought of bugs crawling about in your bed is enough to make you squirm. Imagine them actually being there and taking little bites out of you while you sleep. Bed bugs can be quite the nuisance and are often hard to detect if you don’t know what to look for. They make their way into your home and set up shop in just about any warm and cozy place- carpets, blankets, sofas, beds to name a few. They can breed at an alarming rate, and can survive weeks to a few months on the bare minimum. This fact makes dealing with a bed bug problem particular difficult and best left to the professionals. Call: 647-496-2211

1) Take a day or two and wash everything possible in your house. Curtains, clothing, blankets and rugs should be washed at 120 degrees Fahrenheit in order to kill bed bugs. If you cannot control the temperature of the water to this extent, then place them in the dryer at high heat. This will not only kill the mature bedbugs but also any eggs waiting to hatch.

2) Take a vacuum to every corner and crevice of your home. Vacuum along windows, cracks and floorboards. If your home is carpeted take some extra time to vacuum the carpet twice, and if you have a vacuum that also steams this packs an extra punch. When you have finished vacuuming, ensure that the debris from the vacuum is tied up and disposed of properly. You can also get a small handheld steamer and spend a couple hours steaming your mattresses, bed linen and sofas.

3) Try using a pesticide. Double check the EPA ( Environmental Protection Agency) as they have over 300 recommended products for killing bed bugs in the home. The effectiveness of each product is largely dependent on the severity and size of the infestation. Most of these pesticides are available at hardware and home improvement stores.

Be careful if you have children and animals at home. It is best you resort to this option at a point that you will be away from home for a couple days- just to be safe.

4) Try spreading Diatomaceous Earth (DE). This will immediately cause the bed bugs to become dehydrated as the walk across it. You can apply a very thin layer of DE around the areas you suspect bedbugs to be hunkering down, and gently rub it in. This is perfect for carpets and especially if you have children and animals around. Give it up to 12 hours and then thoroughly vacuum the areas. You might want to avoid putting babies on the carpet until you have gotten a chance to vacuum the carpet after the DE treatment. Also be sure to use Food-grade DE, there are others that are used specifically for pools, avoid these and they can be harmful to humans.

5) When all else fails, call the professional exterminator.

TIPS

Lysol will not kill bedbugs, it will simply keep them away while the area is wet.

Using alcohol will is an effective way to kill bed bugs but it does no damage to their eggs. Hence, it is not an option to rid your home of bedbugs permanently.

Bleach does kill bed bugs and their eggs but cause damage to furniture, mattresses and linen. Therefore, avoid using it.

Don’t be misled to believe that Boric acid is an effective treatment for bed bugs – it is not. Boric acid is particularly toxic to small animals and children.